DHS Forensics Compete, Kane 4th at Harvard Forensics Tournament

DHS Forensics Competes, Kane 4th at Harvard Forensics Tournament

Please make sure you read to the end - extraordinary news awaits!
The DHS forensics team had a great showing at the 41st annual Harvard Invitational National Tournament. We competed against thousands of competitors from around 300 hundred schools (there were some competitors from other countries, too). Harvard hosts perhaps the stiffest competition on the national forensics circuit. Some schools brought squads with more than 100 competitors, some of whom have hired their own private speech and debate coaches. Needless to say, this may be the most cut-throat American academic competition.

Katie competed with her original oratory (an event where contestants write their own persuasive or informative speech). She picked up a first place in one of her rounds.

Shelisa competed in dramatic interpretation (an event where contestants are judged by their ability to bring a written piece to life through her/his interpretation of it). She picked up a first place in one round and a second place in another round.

Individual events such as what Katie and Shelisa competed in have seven people in each round adjudicated by one judge. If a competitor's cumulative score is low enough, they break past the four preliminary rounds into triple octa-finals. Shelisa and Katie did not manage to make their breaks.

Bailey competed in Lincoln-Douglas debate, a person-versus-person debate about a moral / ethical issue. The topic for this tournament was: A just government would require employers to pay its employees a living wage. In some rounds debaters will try to prove this is true, and in some rounds they will try to prove it is not true. Bailey competed against 250 others and went undefeated through three preliminary rounds. This qualified her for triple octa-finals. She kept eliminating her competition from the tournament through triple octas, double octas, octa-finals, and she made it all the way to the quarterfinal round. That means Bailey tied four fourth place at the one of the most prestigious debate tournaments in the world. Douglas is now home to one of the 10 best debaters in the nation. This is extraordinary news, especially considering in three years of competition, Bailey has not managed to break out of preliminary rounds at a Wyoming competition.